# Grammar Question for you fellow English Geeks **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137 "2003-08-14T14:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpaceForRent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@SpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/1 "2003-08-14T14:34:55Z")
I’m a little embarassed to ask, but… What do you call words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Homophones? Do the following groups fit into that: they’re; their; there its; it’s etc. Or are those called something else? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/2 "2003-08-14T14:48:20Z")
You got it right. Althoug, at one time they were also called “homonyms.” ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/3 "2003-08-14T14:59:55Z")
No, homonyms have the same spelling. Same word, same spelling, maybe pronounced the same, but with different meanings. Unless you’re saying that at one time, a long time ago, it meant something different. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/4 "2003-08-14T15:03:08Z")
Main Entry: hom·onym Pronunciation: 'hä-m&-"nim, 'hO- Function: noun Etymology: Latin homonymum, from Greek homOnymon, from neuter of homOnymos Date: 1697 1 a : HOMOPHONE b : HOMOGRAPH c : one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning (as the noun quail and the verb quail) 2 : NAMESAKE 3 : a taxonomic designation rejected as invalid because the identical term has been used to designate another group of the same rank – compare SYNONYM ---
**Author:** ![xejkh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/22d042/32.png) [@xejkh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xejkh)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/5 "2003-08-14T15:34:44Z")
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. eg horse-hoarse; hair-hare, bear-bare. These words will sound the same no matter the accent. Some words will sound alike only in particular accents, like the “writer-rider” pair in American English. Homonyms are words that are spelt the same but have different meanings, or have different functions, like “record”-" Allophones are different sounds that actually are variants of the same phoneme (basic unit of sound). eg tatters- the “t” and “tt” are pronouced differently but they are variants of the same sound. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/6 "2003-08-14T15:38:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xejkh \* > Some words will sound alike only in particular accents, like the “writer-rider” pair in American English. Although I admit these do sound very similar, the AHD lists different pronunciations for these two words. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/7 "2003-08-14T15:53:34Z")
::jerking thumb upwards:: From [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/8 "2003-08-14T16:13:15Z")
Which leads to the question, “What do you call two words with different meanings (or at least different tenses of the same basic meaning) with identical spelling?” E.g.: “You can _lead_ a horse to water” vs. “Uranium decays to _lead_.” “Do you _read_ many ‘literary’ books?” “Yes, I just _read_ Crime and Punishment last month.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-for-you-fellow-english-geeks/195137/9 "2003-08-14T16:21:43Z")
Words that have the same spelling but different pronunciations are homographs. Polish nation Polish the furniture